We stayed at the Anne Hostel Asakusabashi, this is a very good hostel located 5 minutes walk to JR/Subway Asakusabashi Station which is really convenient. Breakfast is included, the staff are very friendly and helpful; nothing was too much trouble. There is air conditioning in each room, free wifi and free internet. The bathroom is very clean with superb powerful showers!! The common room is a nice area to relax in decorated in a Japanese style. This is a very go...

We woke up at 7am. For breakfast Jay bought 8 dumplings for 8 CNY (80p) from a street seller. After breakfast, we joined the queue to see Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall, which was free entry between 8am and 12pm. It was the longest queue we have ever seen. It was a procession, the queue took approximately 45 minutes. It was a bit weird seeing a preserved body in an open casket. After this we went back to our accomodation, as we were hungry, we got some food, Jay...

We had a nice lay in to rest from our trek yesterday. Surprisingly, our muscles did not ache. For breakfast Jay had strawberry and orange flavoured corn crackers and Helen had rice crackers. After breakfast, we made our way to the Summer Palace, the largest and best preserved imperial garden in China. Jay stopped off along the way to buy a Chinese style pancake from a street seller, it was very tasty. It cost £6 each to enter the Summer Palace. The interior wa...

We set the alarm to wake us up at 6.30am. Jay had a 'Swiss breakfast' at the hostel which consist of scrambled eggs, toast, fruit salad with muesli and yoghurt. Helen just had rice crackers as she was not too hungry. We were so excited with the thought of seeing and trekking the Great Wall of China especially as the weather seems clear for it. The bus arrived at 7.30am to pick us up. Half way through the journey the bus crashed into the back of a car. It was ...

In the morning, we booked to go on the 'Remnant Badaling Ancient Wall' Tour (AKA Ancient wall to Secret wall day tour) for tomorrow, this cost £26 each (not a bad price). Helen had her laundry done for 10 CNY (£1) per kg. For breakfast, we ate at the 'Roast Duck Simple Dish' restaurant, we both shared a plate of spare ribs for 38 CNY (£3.80). After breakfast, we went back to our hostel to book our train ticket to Xian but we were told that the tickets were...